1. Field of the Invention
The relevant technical field is computer software, specifically backing up local files on remote computers.
2. Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
At the time of writing, in the United States of America, local area networks (LAN) are ubiquitous in office environments, and the norm in homes with more than one computer, thanks to operating system software that renders network configuration painless. Always-on broadband wide-area network (WAN) connections, such as to the Internet, are increasingly common. As of early 2004, an estimated 76% of American households had some form of Internet connection, with an estimated 40% having a broadband connection.
Computer processors are now so powerful that CPU usage is normally a fraction of potential for the typical personal computer or office workstation.
Computers are increasingly the knowledge repository of human endeavor. The value of a computer document is most obvious to its owner when lost. Backups are the only solution.
There are many ways to back up files known in the prior art, including hardware support, such as RAID 1 disk mirroring, software programs such as Second Copy 2000 by Centered Systems, which allows user-configurable local or LAN backup, and Internet backup services, which facilitate backup to a commercial server through the Internet.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,395 (Whiting) disclosed remote backup to a common storage area, minimizing disk space by using incremental backups.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,714,968 (Prust) succinctly described an Internet backup technology that uses storage servers with individuals being accorded virtual storage areas via password-protected accounts, facilitating “seamless” access. U.S. Pat. No. 6,714,968 followed upon the same remote virtual storage concepts expressed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,771,354 (Crawford).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,704,849 (Steegmans) disclosed remote backups with serious security considerations, including encryption and redundancy, using data streaming.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,698 (Webber) grappled with migration and archive of unused files at a time where storage space was at a premium. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,585 (Blickenstaff) provided insights into archival file migration techniques.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,675,205 (Meadway) disclosed techniques for peer-to-peer file transfer, accounting for circumstances when a computer may be offline.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,728,751 (Cato) disclosed an automated network backup system. Involuntary local storage reservation for backup of files located on remote computers was under the aegis of a command backup (CB) server agent. As disclosed, “backup of data on individual machines is taken out of the control of the individual users of the machines, who essentially have no choice in the matter.” Backup was disclosed as occurring during idle time.
Various types of modification/partial backup strategies are known. One regime, the classic incremental backup, requires a full backup of all files periodically, and in between full backups, backing up only the files that have changed since the last full backup in between. Another concept is known as differential backup, in which each partial backup contains all changes since the last full backup, instead of just changes from the previous incremental backup. Differential backup requires only two backups (one full and one partial) to restore files as of the time of a particular backup. Such backup techniques reduce overall the time required for a backup, and, in the case of network backup, decrease network bandwidth requirements.
Existing backup tools incur a cost, such as paying a monthly fee for an Internet backup service, or require configuration, such as Second Copy 2000, and do not offer the security of remote backup.
Most personal computer users have considerable unused hard drive storage capacity. At the time of writing, the most inexpensive desktop computers come with 40-80 gigabyte (GB) hard drives or more. A full install of the Linux operating system takes less than 5 GB; Windows XP takes 10 GB. That leaves a typical home or office computer with at least 35-75 GB of free storage after OS installation. A typical user, even after years of usage with thousands of files, may stretch to take 10 GB in file storage, yielding 25-65 GB of free storage, and that is just for the least expensive computer. At the time of writing, a 120 GB hard drive costs less than $100. Mass storage is inexpensive, and getting cheaper.
An individual hard disk, computer, or even the space in which the computer exists, may suffer sudden tragic demise. The only insurance for such local tragedy is off-site or remote backup. The problem is how to facilitate remote backup conveniently and inexpensively while retaining data security.